The Journey of a Non-Runner Turned Marathon Runner

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Post Portland Marathon Goals Check In

Before running the Portland Marathon, I made goals for my off-season. Now that I only have about a month left before Eugene training starts, I’d like to check in to see how I’m doing on those goals. Some I’m making great progress, others not so much.

1. Running just to run. I’m challenging myself in the month of November to run every single day. It won’t matter how far or how slow — just that I run a minimum of one mile every day. And if I make it the entire month, I will reward myself with a pair of Lululemon running tights.

I failed at the November running part, and I would say I’m doing a C- job at running just to run. I simply need to run more! No Lululemon tights for me.

2. Speed sessions. These won’t be balls to the wall or super structured, but I would like to do some weekly speed sessions to start improving my speed.

I give myself a B- on this goal so far. I’ve done some speed sessions and fartlek type runs, but I need more. I am SLOW right now, so this is a big priority for the next four weeks.

3. Hills! I’ve spent the last two years avoiding hills, but lately I’ve been wanting to tackle them. I may do some hill repeats, but I generally want to include more hills in my running routes.

Because I haven’t been running much the last month, I haven’t been running many hills.

4. Lose a few pounds. I always gain weight in the summer and lose it in the winter. Kinda annoying, but it happens every year, and I’ve gained about seven pounds since Vancouver (and no, it’s not muscle weight). I’d like to lose at least five of those pounds before I start training for Eugene.

I get an A+ for this goal. I’m already down five pounds and would like to lose another three before Eugene training starts. I’ve oddly found losing weight to be relatively easy. Moving has taken up a lot of time, so I haven’t been doing much mindless snacking. Also, I’ve pretty much cut alcohol out of my diet, which saves a lot of empty calories.

5. Maintain some level of endurance — I’d like to do some periodic weekend runs of 10-13 miles so transitioning to marathon training in January isn’t a total shock.

I’ve done one 10-mile run since Portland, which isn’t enough. In addition to speed, these baby long runs will also be a priority for the next four weeks.

6. Have fun and get excited for Eugene 2013. This is my #1 goal. I entered this training cycle in a physically and mentally bad place, and it has negatively impacted the entire cycle.

I’m just now starting to get excited for Eugene, and I’m sure I will be really excited when I need to start training. I’m starting to have visions of crossing the finish line at Hayward track with 3:xx on the clock. It is gonna be sweet!

7. No racing! One of my goals this year was to run one race every month. After Portland, I will have run 17 races this year. So while I won’t technically meet my goal (I’ll miss November and December), I’ve run plenty of races this year. My plan is to wait until the Honeywagon Half Marathon in March, and I want a very large PR at this race.

I totally fail at this goal. A few weeks before Thanksgiving I received an email about the Ballard Turkey Trot 5k, which benefits the Ballard Food Bank. It was only $25, low key, my friends were running it, and it was in my new neighborhood. I couldn’t pass it up. Then I figured that if I’m going to do a race in November, I might as well sign up for one in December so I could reach my goal of doing one organized race every month. So I signed up for the 12ks of Christmas in December. Before I knew it, I was also signed up for the Lake Samish Half Marathon in January and the Resolution Run 5k. Signing up for races is a slippery slope; within a week, I went from no races on the calendar to four. Opps.

8. Lots of yoga!

Yes! I’ve been averaging about three yoga classes a week. My core is stronger, my arms are less flabby, and I’m feeling good with my yoga routine.

Overall, I’m not reaching my goals as well as I would like. Now that we’re more settled in the new house, the next four weeks are all about building up my mileage and getting faster. Happy Friday!